Ian Wright says Arsenal needs a 'killer'. Is the call coming from inside the house?

Ian Wright stoked the fires over the weekend as his former club, Arsenal, fell 2 0 to Liverpool in the FA Cup third round. “ ”, the Gunners legend posted on social media, thus weaponizing the always volatile Arsenal fan base as they demand a new striker in this January's transfer window. Admittedly, Arsenal is in one of those tough spells and the goals have dried up.

Only five have been scored in its last seven matches, two in the last four — hardly a return befitting a team with legitimate title aspirations. In fact, it was only two weeks ago the then league leading London side was being touted as title favourites. Times change, as do narratives in the Premier League which seem to shift each and every week.

We probably all need to just breathe, acknowledge it is a long season and there will be ebbs and flows. Could Arsenal use a “killer” in front of goal? Someone calm, efficient and deadly with the ball at his feet? Of course, although Mikel Arteta’s side sits behind only offensive juggernauts Liverpool and Manchester City.

The cool stat to push is the more recent expected goals (xg) mark of 6.0 over the past three matches, having scored once on 61 shots, and the one that motivated Wright to get busy with his fingers — 18 shots on target and a 1.61xg against Liverpool. In fairness, we can understand Wright’s frustration.

He was a player of the ilk that Arsenal would absolutely thrive with this season, a true killer. One of the all time greats of English football — his 185 Arsenal goals is second only to Thierry Henry — his words carry weight. Regardless, this is hardly the time to scream “crisis.” Last season after all, with the same offensive weapons available, Arsenal scored 88 goals, the second best by a distance.

The conundrum Arteta and his troops find themselves in is that this year's “bad spell” coincides with the opening of the transfer window. As bad as a dry spell might be at any time in the season, having it occur in January will get the support base particularly blinkered and motivated. Relying on the brilliant young winger Bukayo Saka to lead the line is not ideal, of course, and his six goals is a decent return for a player in his position.

But to listen to you might be forgiven for believing this year's team is the reincarnation of Derby County circa 2007 08 — record holder for least number of goals in a Premier League season — which seems a little harsh. What are the alternatives? Who is available in the transfer market that would move the needle? Ivan Toney? Sure, but he’s only just returned to game action after an eight month suspension for gambling.

And having already admitted his loyalty to Brentford, Toney will likely not be leaving this January. Kylian Mbappé? Please. Dominic Solanke of Bournemouth? Good season yes, but a needle mover? ? It is time for a move, but a game changer this season? Perhaps a little unfair. The solution more than likely lies within, as Arteta stated following the Liverpool loss: “Stick behind the ones that we have.

They are incredibly good. If not then they don’t do what they’ve done today and in Anfield. Stick by them. That’s exactly what they need. Then they feel important and supported. With their attitude they don’t deserve anything different. That’s my opinion." Arteta knows about the ebbs and flows; he starred as a player in the Premier League for 11 years at Everton and Arsenal.

Form will improve and with Arsenal currently in fourth place and five points back of first there is still plenty of time to fix what ails. After all, the Gunners still have 54 points to fight for. Remember their rivals Tottenham led the league for some time, hit a patch, but have now bounced back. Liverpool sits in top spot, all is wonderful … only it has periods of highly questionable defensive play.

And what of the champions Manchester City? Pedestrian so far by its high standards, yet there is little panic in the sky blue stratosphere. Maybe that's because they are proven winners. Arsenal? Heartbreak is still very fresh. Just last season no team led the table for more days than the Gunners — 248 days to be precise, a record for a team that failed to win a title.

Arsenal has two winnable games against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest before a rematch with Liverpool but — and this is important — the Palace match is not until Jan. 20. Plenty of time then to address the goal issue, either on the training pitch or in the transfer market. The other alternative is to sit back and enjoy the media/fan snowball of overreaction, ‘tis the season after all.

Kevin De Bruyne last weekend, coming off the bench in the FA Cup against Huddersfield. In his first action since week one because of a hamstring injury, De Bruyne managed one assist in the 5 0 thumping, which also got me thinking: far be it for me to give betting advice in this column — irreverent, sometimes insightful commentary is really the goal after all — but I might well drop a couple of well earned shillings on De Bruyne to finish the season with the most assists in the Premier League.

De Bruyne has arguably been the best player in the league for five seasons, not to mention the most creative. A four time assist leader (golden eye?), he also holds the record number of assists in one season with Henry. Healthy again and feeding Erling Haaland for the remaining 19 matches, De Bruyne will once again turn king provider.

Can he catch Ollie Watkins and Mo Salah, who lead the charge with eight assists so far? It won’t be easy, but with odds of +4000 it's extremely tempting. PSG’s Mbappé is free to negotiate with any team as January hits and ahead of soccer's equivalent of unrestricted free agency this summer.

This has many similarities to the this winter — we all know where he will end up but that won’t stop certain teams teasing their fan bases to the point of delirium. In this case, replace the Los Angeles Dodgers with Real Madrid, with Liverpool. Get my drift? Please don’t get caught up in the chaos … as I am.

News that Tottenham has on loan from RB Leipzig has been met with a hopeful shrug of the shoulders by most Spurs fans. Meanwhile, Chelsea fans can barely contain themselves. For them, you see, Werner was one of the clubs greatest failures, scoring only 23 goals in 89 games — far fewer than expected for a striker that cost north of $50 million.

Spurs fans, however, have a reason to hope for the best. Despite the recent evidence suggesting Werner will never be the player that bossed it for Leipzig prior to his move to Chelsea, scoring 78 league goals in less than four seasons, Tottenham has manager Ange Postecoglou, who can do no wrong. Anything he touches turns to gold … or is that, goal? If anyone can reinvent Werner into the player he was it is the affable Aussie..